Obama Orders 'Sequestration'9:08 PM, Mar 1, 2013 • By DANIEL HALPER
President Barack Obama orders sequestration. Here’s the text of the executive order:
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
March 1, 2013
SEQUESTRATION ORDER FOR FISCAL YEAR 2013 PURSUANT
TO SECTION 251A OF THE BALANCED BUDGET AND
EMERGENCY DEFICIT CONTROL ACT, AS AMENDED
By the authority vested in me as President by the laws
of the United States of America, and in accordance with
section 251A of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit
Control Act, as amended (the "Act"), 2 U.S.C. 901a, I hereby
order that budgetary resources in each non-exempt budget account
be reduced by the amount calculated by the Office of Management
and Budget in its report to the Congress of March 1, 2013.
Pursuant to sections 250(c)(6), 251A, and 255(e) of the
Act, budgetary resources subject to sequestration shall be new
budget authority, unobligated balances of defense function
accounts carried over from prior fiscal years, direct spending
authority, and obligation limitations.
All sequestrations shall be made in strict accordance with
the requirements of section 251A of the Act and the
specifications of the Office of Management and Budget's report
of March 1, 2013, prepared pursuant to section 251A(11) of the
Act.
BARACK OBAMA
THE WHITE HOUSE,
March 1, 2013.
# # #
Happy Hour Links: Cheers and Jeers6:14 PM, Mar 1, 2013 • By MICHAEL WARREN
Why the White House will regret treating the press poorly.
The 2016 candidates the GOP needs, wants, and hates.
Continetti: Want access to Obama? It'll cost ya.
Satire that's too close to reality.
Senator Mike Lee's "Cut This, Not That" campaign.
Cheney says Condi was wrong on Syria in 2007.
Jody Bottum's latest short story, "Sweet Crude."
Marco Rubio wants to make a Harlem Shake video for some reason.
Catch up on this week in Washington with Kate Upton.
Russian girls hockey game erupts in brawl.
Obama 'Looks Forward to Visiting' Russia in September6:05 PM, Mar 1, 2013 • By DANIEL HALPER
In a phone call today, President Barack Obama told Vladimir Putin that he "looks forward to visiting" Russia in September, according to the White House. Here's the readout of their call:
"President Obama called Russian President Putin today to discuss next steps in the bilateral relationship and to coordinate on regional and global issues. The Presidents had a constructive conversation on a wide range of issues. President Obama welcomed strong U.S.-Russian cooperation in the P5+1 to address the Iranian nuclear issue. The Presidents welcomed the substantive and constructive consultations held by Secretary Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov earlier this week in Berlin on implementing the Geneva Action Group framework to enable a political transition in Syria. The two Presidents agreed on the need to advance a political transition to end the violence as soon as possible and the importance of Secretary Kerry and Foreign Minister Lavrov continuing their engagement on Syria. The Presidents discussed the international economic situation and the path toward a more substantial trade and investment relationship between the United States and Russia. Finally, the Presidents agreed to hold a bilateral meeting in conjunction with the June G8 Summit in Northern Ireland and President Obama said he looks forward to visiting St. Petersburg for the G-20 meeting in September."
Obama Pardons 17 4:51 PM, Mar 1, 2013 • By DANIEL HALPER
The White House announced that President Barack Obama has pardoned 17 people. Here's the official release:
President Obama Grants Pardons
WASHINGTON – Today President Barack Obama granted pardons to the following seventeen individuals:
Robert Leroy Bebee – Rockville, Maryland. Offense: Misprision of a felony, 18 U.S.C. § 4.
Sentence: Two years probation.
James Anthony Bordinaro – Gloucester, Massachusetts. Offenses: Conspiracy to restrain, suppress, and eliminate competition in violation of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1; conspiracy to submit false statements, 18 U.S.C. § 371.
Sentence: 12 months imprisonment, three years supervised release and a $55,000 fine.
Kelli Elisabeth Collins – Harrison, Arkansas. Offense: Aiding and abetting a wire fraud, 18 U.S.C. §§ 1343, 2.
Sentence: Five years probation.
Edwin Hardy Futch, Jr. – Pembroke, Georgia. Offense: Theft from an interstate shipment, 18 U.S.C. §§ 659, 2.
Sentence: Five years probation, $2,399.72 restitution.
Cindy Marie Griffith – Moyock, North Carolina. Offense:Distribution of satellite cable television decryption devices, 47 U.S.C.
§ 605(e)(4), 18 U.S.C. § 2.
Sentence: Two years probation with 100 hours of community service.
Roy Eugene Grimes, Sr. – Athens, Tennessee. Offenses: Falsely altering a United States postal money order, 18 U.S.C. § 500; passing,
uttering, and publishing a forged and altered money order with intent to defraud,
18 U.S.C. § 500.
Sentence: 18 months probation.
Jon Christopher Kozeliski – Decatur, Illinois. Offense:Conspiracy to traffic counterfeit goods, 18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 2320.
Read more...
In the Absence of Conservative Solutions to Health Care3:10 PM, Mar 1, 2013 • By FRED BAUER
With New Jersey governor Chris Christie's announcement that he would accept funds for Obamacare's Medicaid expansion, the number of Republican governors accepting Obamacare Medicaid expansion money rises to eight: Jan Brewer (Arizona), Rick Scott (Florida), Rick Snyder (Michigan), Brian Sandoval (Nevada), Susana Martinez (New Mexico), Jack Dalrymple (North Dakota), John Kasich (Ohio), and Christie. Many of these governors rode to power in 2010 on a Tea Party wave and protested vociferously against Obamacare, so their about-face on Obamacare money stokes more than a little ire on the part of some on the right. I am not sure, however, that conservatives should rest content with excommunicating these governors from the Church of True Conservatism and casting them into the darkness of the RINO Establishment. The acceptance of these Obamacare funds—however tentative—drives home the need for Republicans to offer an alternative health care model.
There might be an aspect of political self-interest in these governors' decisions. Many of these governors are from states that President Obama won in 2012. But it would be a mistake to attribute this decision solely to politics. Mitt Romney carried both Arizona and North Dakota handily, and Republican governors who embrace Obamacare funding likely risk a considerable backlash within their own ranks. So politics alone cannot explain this conversion.
On a surface level, there is considerable short-term incentive for these governors to take the federal government up on Medicaid expansion. For at least the first two years, the cost of expanding Medicaid in states that choose to participate would be borne solely by the federal government, and federal subsidies for this Medicaid expansion could hover near 100 percent for years in the future. From many a governor's perspective, this is free money (of course, this money ultimately comes from the taxpayer, but it does not come directly from the state budget). And this money could be used to help the poor of a given state. As Governor Kasich said in defense of his acceptance of this Medicaid expansion, "And I've got to tell you, I can't look at the disabled, I can't look at the poor, I can't look at the mentally ill, I can't look at the addicted and think we ought to ignore them." Governor Kasich is far from alone in his belief that such spending, especially if it comes from the federal government, could help private individuals without exhausting the state's treasury.
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